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E60 / E61 (2004 - 2010) BMW 5-Series E60 Sedan was first seen in the Unites States in the fall of 2003 with a 2004 Model Year designation. The E61 wagon followed shortly there after. The E60/E61 5 series is now available as a 528i, 528xi, 535i, 535xi, 550i and a 535xi sports wagon! -- View the E60 Wiki

stick with oem and use wheel wax this will help you easily wipe away your dust at every stoplight as we all have too... I prolly wipe my wheels down 4 to 5 times a week. Thats part of this German thing.

stick with oem and use wheel wax this will help you easily wipe away your dust at every stoplight as we all have too... I prolly wipe my wheels down 4 to 5 times a week. Thats part of this German thing.

Hey bro,,, what kind of wax and where u get it at.. Every time i tried waxing or polishing my wheels it seems like the dust got worse and got dirtier faster.. So now i dont use anything on them now.. just wash'em every friday

The akebono's are an extremely good pad . The Hawk pads are something that we install and we use as well in our vehicles. The customers that we have installed them for seem to like them however some people don't like them as well as the akebono's or other pads of their preference. Of course we would like to have your buisness but I don't want you to buy anything that you wouldn't be happy with. I have not really received any commplaints on the akebono's so that is what I would recommend first. Take a look around and atleast compare our prices.

The akebono's are an extremely good pad . The Hawk pads are something that we install and we use as well in our vehicles. The customers that we have installed them for seem to like them however some people don't like them as well as the akebono's or other pads of their preference. Of course we would like to have your buisness but I don't want you to buy anything that you wouldn't be happy with. I have not really received any commplaints on the akebono's so that is what I would recommend first. Take a look around and atleast compare our prices.

How can I fit a 348mm rotor on an E61? Are there calipers available to fit?

How can I fit a 348mm rotor on an E61? Are there calipers available to fit?

If the caliper on E61 is the same as E60 then I think you are good to go; but I wonder if the E61 is XI thus have CV joint which makes the whole suspension to be different compare to non-XI (your sedan for example).

I agree with you ceramic in general is less grabby.
BTW when discussing pads please states the type not just brand. Hawk makes ceramic but the one that midle-road is HPS (from what I heard from people), less dust; some says as much as 50% less dust than OEM and about the same or 20% more braking to boot. Yes Akebono ceramic that I have on my X5 virtually dust free but a bit spongy and you need more effort pushing the pedal.

All due respect to John@EAS, I bought depo for my X5 from EAS.... but TireRack website most helpful determining which pads may suit your need, they have indicator on:
dust, noise and performance; dust always mutual exclusive vs performance.

The akebono's are an extremely good pad . The Hawk pads are something that we install and we use as well in our vehicles. The customers that we have installed them for seem to like them however some people don't like them as well as the akebono's or other pads of their preference. Of course we would like to have your buisness but I don't want you to buy anything that you wouldn't be happy with. I have not really received any commplaints on the akebono's so that is what I would recommend first. Take a look around and atleast compare our prices.

I have the Hawk on my Corvette, and really like them. Low dust, never squeal, and great brake feel.

Akebono are ceramic pads. They create less dust and it is more white or neutral, so less visible. However they are not as grabby as oems, so everyone need to decide what is more important to them. Highy efficient pads tend to be dirtier, so it's a trade off.
I tried ceramics and they came off after a week. I hated them. Brakes feel greasy and slippery and you have to press the pedal much harder to get a response. I almost rear ended a truck on the highway with them, that's when i phoned in an order for oems!
I heard good things about Hawk HPS and will give them a try at some point. (Either Textar or Jurid make BMW pads, so look for those as well.)

I have both a 535 sedan and wagon. The sedan has much better brakes and I discovered it is because the rotors are about an inch larger! Now I am researching how to get larger rotors on the wagon, at least in front where it matters. That should make a huge difference.

All E61s are Xdrive.
I wonder if anyone have come up with a better brake solution for that car.
There is a world of difference between my 535i Sport RWD and the E61 wagon. Night and day. It's like an F1 vs a tractor in terms of braking quality.

All E61s are Xdrive.
I wonder if anyone have come up with a better brake solution for that car.
There is a world of difference between my 535i Sport RWD and the E61 wagon. Night and day. It's like an F1 vs a tractor in terms of braking quality.

IMHO, BMW is lagging behind when it comes to AWD compare to Audi. Audi put real performance suspension, sits lower etc on their AWD cars. Wish I went ahead with 335is instead of 335-coupe xi, the is has bigger brake on already. No more AWD BMW for me unless it's an X6 50i

I have not used the Ferodo pads. Chances are, if the pads are a ceramic material, there will be less dust on your rims.
I replaced the fronts and rear pads with Hawk HPS pads recently. What use to be a weekly cleaning of the rims with original pads is now a once a month cleaning with the HPS pads. I like the HPS pads braking performance, a slight increase over the OEM pads, but I find that I have to apply more pedal pressure to hold the car when its stopped. For me, that's a reasonable trade off.
Before replacing the pads, check your rotor thickness with a micrometer. You'll need a 1"-2" range for the fronts. I think the minimum thickness is 28.4 mm (1.118") but you should check that. The OEM rims wear quickly. Mine were toast at about 70k miles.

All E61s are Xdrive.
I wonder if anyone have come up with a better brake solution for that car.
There is a world of difference between my 535i Sport RWD and the E61 wagon. Night and day. It's like an F1 vs a tractor in terms of braking quality.

E61 would actually brake better because of AWD - when slowing engine brakes all wheels at the same time unlike RWD helping to shorten braking distance.
If you have issues with braking check your disks, brake pads, brake master cylinder, replace brake fluid.

Uhm, my cars use brake pads on rotors. The engine is not involved in the braking process.

Not sure what year BMW started using engine braking, but I know my sport auto transmission will downshift and employ engine braking when I'm going downhill and depress the brake pedal. But as far as I can tell, that's the only time it uses engine braking.

Not sure what year BMW started using engine braking, but I know my sport auto transmission will downshift and employ engine braking when I'm going downhill and depress the brake pedal. But as far as I can tell, that's the only time it uses engine braking.

That is adaptive transmission doing that gear change, nothing to do with engine.

E60 owners, this is a call for brake pads and rotors as everyone's contridbution is important. Following is the list I have so far and I can feel the brake pads are going to go anyday now as the car does not likes to stop or maybe it is my racing driving pattern, who knows. If you have had better experience than any listed below, then I would like to hear your voice.

Brake pads:
Textar
Jurid
Hawk HPS
Akebono

Rotors:
Centric
R1 Concepts
Zimmerman

Question I have about rotors, I have done enough research on rotors and found that the slotted or drilled or combo are mainly for racing and does not have much affect on street usage, they are mostly for the looks. Would you agree with it?

Question I have about rotors, I have done enough research on rotors and found that the slotted or drilled or combo are mainly for racing and does not have much affect on street usage, they are mostly for the looks. Would you agree with it?

They are mainly for looks, but they look great!! I love my slotted and drilled ones from ACUTE. Prem R1 w/ Hawk HPS. I will do it again..... no regrets.

I use Hawk HPS with Centric Cryo treated rotors. Quite pleased with them.

Slotted and crossdrilled actually reduce the amount of surface the pads are in contact with. Also wears down pads faster. It's intended for cooling, but for normal driving it is not necessary. The size of the rotors and the air that flows between the twin discs provide lots of heat dissipation. (Track duty is completely different. You are constantly stressing the rotors and heating them up. You'd never drive like that on normal roads, so there is plenty of time for the rotors to cool off.)

Textar and Jurid are oem pads, this is what BMW uses, just with their own name stamped on them. They work great, just throw off a lot of black dust. Hawks work just as well but are more durable and a lot less dirty.
I have heard good things about Akebono, but just happen to hate ceramic pads. They feel slippery to me and have no feel.